Can You Call Someone a Nazi? And Why Not?

Bad Kitty

So recent events have made me wonder.  Why do people get so upset when you call someone a Nazi?  (Brazillian Minister’s reference to Nazi Rocks WTO talks) If they talk like a Nazi and act like a Nazi, then what’s the deal?  I know that casts a wide net (According to wikipedia: Among the key elements of Nazism were anti-parliamentarism, ethnic nationalism, racism, collectivism, eugenics, antisemitism, opposition to economic liberalism and political liberalism, anti-communism, and totalitarianism.) but if an act, a assertation, or a policy appears to be leading to the type of mentality that is Nazi, is it better to leave off the label and miss the point (that the person or organization is acting like a Nazi) or use the label and risk the point being buried under the unrelated rage at the use of the word.  And note, it seems to be the USE of the word, not the possibility that the assertion is accurate.  What do you think?

Now They Want Your Birth Control Pills

Another Uppity Woman Bites the Dust

So they said it would never happen, not our government, not in the 21st Century:

HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion

Cristina Page on July 15, 2008 – 3:02pm

Cristina Page’s blog | Print this | ShareThis

Read the full text of the leaked HHS proposal here (PDF).

In a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right, the Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposal that allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman’s access to contraception. In order to do this, the Department is attempting to redefine many forms of contraception, the birth control 40% of Americans use, as abortion. Doing so protects extremists under the Weldon and Church amendments. Those laws prohibit federal grant recipients from requiring employees to help provide or refer for abortion services. The “Definitions” section of the HHS proposal states  MORE>>

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